Teenager who worked at Goodwill charged with a felony after giving needy customers d

Teenager who worked at Goodwill charged with a felony after giving needy customers discounts on merchandise

An East Naples teenager who thought he was doing a good deed ended up behind bars.

Collier County deputies say 19-year-old Andrew Anderson was an employee at a Goodwill store in East Naples -- he was arrested for giving out discounts.

On Thursday, he sat down exclusively with Rick Ritter to talk about his arrest and why he didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

"I'm not a bad person, what I did was with all good intentions," Anderson said.

Good intentions Anderson can't put a price tag on. For him, it was the best feeling in the world.

"It makes you feel amazing, makes you feel like that you can actually be the person to help them," Anderson said.

The 19-year-old was an employee at Goodwill Retail and Donation Center in East Naples -- giving out discounts to customers he thought were in need.

"People would come in on bicycles -- wearing all of the clothes they had, coming in with $2, $3 max," Anderson said.

Not thinking anything of it, Anderson would cut prices in half, leaving families with a smile.

"I wasn't actually stealing. Goodwill is a giving and helping company, so I took it upon to myself to be giving and helping because I feel people deserve it," Anderson said.

But the teenager quickly went from paying it forward to the Collier County jail.

"My heart just dropped into my stomach," Anderson said.

Store officials fired Anderson and reported the incident to deputies. They arrested him Tuesday and charged him with grand theft.

The statue for grand theft reads, "Theft -- Appropriate the property to his or her own use or to the use of any person not entitled to the use of the property." - Per Collier County Sheriff's Office

Anderson says he never knew giving discounts was wrong or even illegal.

"The intent I had was to help people, just like Goodwill says, we help people," Anderson said.

Andrew says out of the two weeks he gave discounts, not once did he put a dollar in his own pocket and he even offered to pay back the money that Goodwill estimates he gave away.

Store officials say none of that matters.

"Our stores are not around to give a hand out, they're around to give people a hand up by providing funding, said Kirstin O'Donnell, a spokesperson for Goodwill Retail and Donation Center in East Naples.

"In incidents like this, we always prosecute and the reason why is when people steal from Goodwill, they're not stealing from the company, they're stealing from the mission of our organization."

"He shouldn't be [fired], especially when you think you're doing something right in your heart," said Judy Shaffer of Naples.

"I think they should've sat him down and explained to him what he was doing wrong instead of firing him." said Dale Shaffer of Naples.

While Anderson faces felony charges, he's hoping they'll get dropped and wants people to know this was an honest mistake.

"My heart was in the right place, my head was in the wrong place," Anderson said.

Strange behavior from a company that relies on voluntary donations from the public and good PR. There's a word for that I can't quite place my finger on....

And if a more thorough investigation revealed that it wasn't so much a brain fart as it was charging the individuals full sticker but ringing it up at a lower price and pocketing the difference? Or that such brain farts had been dealt with leniently in the past, leading to a pattern of advantage taking by other employees.

And if a more thorough investigation revealed that it wasn't so much a brain fart as it was charging the individuals full sticker but ringing it up at a lower price and pocketing the difference? Or that such brain farts had been dealt with leniently in the past, leading to a pattern of advantage taking by other employees.

Was there evidence he was pocketing the difference, or is this speculative?

I give to the Goodwill a lot. I've also shopped there on a number of occasions. Their prices are friggin' cheap. Offering a further discount, without authority to do so, is problematic. I'm sure the kid felt like he was doing a good thing, but I understand why they can't have that sort of thing.

Not even sure I would have fired him, but might have had a serious talk to explain it to him and then maybe have him pay it back (which he offered to do) or at least have him work some free shifts to make up for it.

Whole thing seems pretty stupid. I still plan on supporting Goodwill. It's a good organization and it helps a lot of people.

__________________
We have a million reasons for failure, but not one excuse... Die Donks, DIE!!

A quote:
"Oh well, there's always next year. We'll be better then, you'll see..." - Every Chiefs fan for the last 46...crap...47 years...

I give to the Goodwill a lot. I've also shopped there on a number of occasions. Their prices are friggin' cheap. Offering a further discount, without authority to do so, is problematic. I'm sure the kid felt like he was doing a good thing, but I understand why they can't have that sort of thing.

Not even sure I would have fired him, but might have had a serious talk to explain it to him and then maybe have him pay it back (which he offered to do) or at least have him work some free shifts to make up for it.

Whole thing seems pretty stupid. I still plan on supporting Goodwill. It's a good organization and it helps a lot of people.

It comes down to whether he was just being an idiot, or if he is a manipulative little shit that thinks he can do whatever he wants and talk himself out of it. If he's na´ve, I talk to him and make sure it never happens again. If he's a manipulative little shit, I make him pay it all off, and fire him without the law being involved. Them calling the cops only puts them in a bad light with the public.

Whole thing seems pretty stupid. I still plan on supporting Goodwill. It's a good organization and it helps a lot of people.

I disagree. It's a completely for-profit organization, but they are 501 c 3. They hire handicap people and pay them much much less than min wage and call it helping them. They basically find vulnerable people and pay them slave wages while recording billion dollar profits and pay no taxes. They perform no local charities for their communities or anything of that nature. They have regional CEO's who make an average of about $400K and when you add them all together it comes to about 40 million for CEO pay while taking advantage of the handicapped and paying other employees no more than minimum wage.

As far as the issue that goes with the kid in the OP, he should have been fired and that should have been that IMO.

It comes down to whether he was just being an idiot, or if he is a manipulative little shit that thinks he can do whatever he wants and talk himself out of it. If he's na´ve, I talk to him and make sure it never happens again. If he's a manipulative little shit, I make him pay it all off, and fire him without the law being involved. Them calling the cops only puts them in a bad light with the public.

that's my take also. I would be annoyed if one of my employees took it upon himself to cut deals on the company budget, but I'd certainly entertain a discussion to allow certain rule bends.